Biggles' Christmas Tree!
Biggles' Xmas-Box! is a short story which was first published in The Modern Boy Issue 359, 22nd December 1934. This is one of the "uncollected" stories. In was not gathered and republished in any anthology in Johns' lifetime. The story was only gathered and published in Biggles Air Ace in 1999. Synopsis A visiting pilot agrees to supply Biggles and 266 Sqn with a Christmas tree from a wood near his airfield. However the tree is waylaid by Wilks and 287 Sqn who then invite 266 Sqn over for a party. It is up to Biggles and Algy to turn the tables. Plot (may contain spoilers - click on expand to read) Fernwell, a pilot from 100 Sqn drops in at 266 Sqn for a visit. He advises Biggles and friends that they really ought to think about blacking out their buildings at night. Fernwell is a night bomber pilot and on his return trips from Germany, he could always see 266 Sqn brightly lit, all the more so because the rest of the countryside is all dark. A known airfield so brightly illuminated would be a tempting target for enemy bombers. Biggles thanks Fernwell for his advice and then has an idea. Fernwell flew the large Handley Page O series bomber, and there were "whole forests" of Christmas Trees near his airfield at Auchez. 266 Sqn badly wanted a Christmas Tree for Christmas. Could Fernwell help? Fernwell promises to bring one the next day, if his C.O. agrees. The day arrives but Fernwell does not turn up. Then Biggles gets a call from him. He had to stop by 287 Sqn because of some engine trouble. While he was having lunch, someone there pinched the tree and he could not get it back, much as he complained about it. It must be Wilks! Just then Wilks comes into the 266 Sqn mess. 287 Sqn was having a special Christmas party, with dinner and a Christmas Tree gift distribution afterwards. 266 is invited. Biggles accuses him of taking their tree but Wilks brushes it aside. He had already invied Major Raymond and other important people to the party and so he couldn't give the tree back, could he? 266 Sqn dutifully turn up at the party and Biggles' name is the first to be called by Raymond who is officiating at the presentation of gifts. Biggles opens his and it turns out to be a fine silver wrist watch. Wilks is stunned. It's his. There must have been some mistake! But Biggles shows the label on the parcel which had his name on it. Raymond agrees that one can't give a present and then ask for it back. Wilks next gets his present, and it's a cigar box full of wriggling worms! Algy is called next and gets a safety razor which a senior 287 Sqn pilot says is his. And so the pattern continued. 266 personnel all received useful gifts while the 287 people received strange gifts such as cinders, engine-cleaning rags, and rusty nuts and bolts. Mullen, enjoying the occasion with his pilots, asks Biggles what happened. Biggles tells him that he and Algy sneaked into 287 Sqn at two in the morning and switched all the wrappers of the presents. The cinders, worms and oily rags had been meant for 266. An orderly comes from Wing Headquarters with a message for Raymond. An enemy bomber had crept over the lines and had dropped a bomb which had demolished the 266 Sqn mess. The party breaks up but Biggles returns the watch to Wilks. Had the 266 personnel not been at his party, there would have undoubtedly been casualties. Characters *Biggles *Algy Lacey *Captain Mahoney *Fernwell *A. R. Wilkinson *Major Raymond Aircraft *Handley Page Type O Places Visited *266 Squadron, Maranique *287 Squadron Mentioned *100 Squadron, Auchez Research Notes *There really was a 100 Sqn which flew F.E.2s with the mission of conducting night bombing. The squadron later re-equipped with the Handley Page O/400 bomber similar to the one used here, but this only happened in August 1918 and not around Christmas 1917 as suggested in this story. It formed part of the Independent Air Force with the mission of strategic bombing of Germany. *From 4th March 1918, 100 Sqn was based at Ochey, France, which sounds like "Auchez". Johns might have been thinking of the same place but spelt it differently.wikipedia: No. 100 Squadron RAF *Auchez (Ochey) is also mentioned in Spy in the Sky. References to the past Incongruities Chronology (see also table at Timeline of the Biggles Stories) *The only Christmas this can be is Christmas 1917. There is not much point getting a Christmas Tree after Christmas so this must have happened before, sometime in December 1917. Publication History *''The Modern Boy'', Issue 359, 22th December 1934. *Reprinted in Biggles & Co., The W. E. Johns Quarterly Magazine, Number 10, January 1992. *''Biggles Air Ace'', Norman Wright, 1999 and 2008. References Category:Short stories Category:Biggles short stories Category:World War One era short stories Category:Uncollected stories